Battery storage and pumped hydro projects in India, in this edition of news in brief from around the world in energy storage.
ACME Solar subsidiaries bring online Rajasthan projects
Two subsidiaries of independent power producer (IPP) ACME Solar have this month announced the commissioning of utility-scale battery energy storage systems (BESS) in Rajasthan, northwestern India.
On 4 May, in an announcement to the National Stock Exchange of India (NSE) and Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), parent company ACME Solar Holdings said ACME Sun Power had commissioned 33.3MW/160.5MWh of BESS capacity in the village of Badi Sid, in Rajasthan’s Jodhpur District.
Commercial operation date of the project was 6 May 2026. It brings ACME Sun Power’s commissioned capacity to date to 200MW/963MWh, ACME Solar said.
Try Premium for just $1
- Full premium access for the first month at only $1
- Converts to an annual rate after 30 days unless cancelled
- Cancel anytime during the trial period
Premium Benefits
- Expert industry analysis and interviews
- Digital access to PV Tech Power journal
- Exclusive event discounts
Or get the full Premium subscription right away
Or continue reading this article for free
The announcement was followed a week later by notification to the exchanges that another subsidiary, ACME Surya Power, had commissioned an additional 35.7MW/160.5MWh at an existing project in Jaimalsar, Bikaner district of the same state,
Commercial operation date of the additional capacity was yesterday (13 May 2026). The expansion took ACME Surya Power’s cumulative commissioned capacity to 210.9MW/947.9MWh.
Further details of the projects were not provided, although both are thought to be part of solar PV projects or portfolios that the ACME Solar subsidiaries will hybridise, including under firm dispatchable renewable energy (FDRE) contracts.
They follow an announcement in March that the company had commissioned 143MW/481.48MWh of BESS in Rajasthan, through various special purpose vehicle (SPV) subsidiaries.
The company recently reported its Q4 and full-year 2025 financial results, reporting a 59.2% year-over-year increase in annual revenue from INR1.57 trillion (US$164.5 million) to INR2.5 trillion, and 61.2% increase in EBITDA from INR1.4 trillion to INR2.26 trillion.
It is targeting 10GW of generation capacity and 20GWh of BESS capacity by 2030 and to date has brought online a cumulative 2.3GWh of battery storage across three sites that have begun revenue generation, including 2GWh in Rajasthan.
IndiGrid brings online 180MW/360MWh BESS for GUVNL
India Grid Trust (IndiGrid) has commissioned a 180MW/360MWh BESS project in Gujarat, western India.
IndiGrid, self-described as India’s first private power sector infrastructure investment trust, announced the commissioning last week to LinkedIn. The project was jointly developed with new development platform EnerGrid and state energy holding company Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam (GUVNL).
IndiGrid was awarded the project, including design, supply, installation, testing, commissioning and operations and maintenance (O&M), by GUVNL through a competitive solicitation in March 2024.
The build, own and operate (BOO) contract was tendered for through tariff-based competitive bidding (TBCB), with a 12-year battery energy storage service agreement (BESSA) signed in June 2024.
IndiGrid noted on its project website that the company received technology support from BESS integrator AmpereHour Energy. The two companies previously co-developed a 20MW/40MWh BESS project in Delhi.
It also received concessional financing worth around US$55 million toward the project from the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC), as reported by Energy-Storage.news last July.
At that time, IndiGrid, which counts US investment firm KKR among its backers, had a total US$3.5 billion portfolio of operational assets including transmission lines, substations and solar PV power plants.
Its development partner on the 360MWh GUVNL project, EnerGrid, was founded in late 2024 by IndiGrid together with British International Investment (BII) and the Norwegian Climate Investment Fund. EnerGrid’s remit is to develop greenfield transmission and standalone BESS projects in India, with each of its three partners committing an initial US$100 million, which would enable EnerGrid to pursue US$1.2 billion-worth of projects “over the next few years,” IndiGrid said at the time.
GE Vernova awarded 1.35GW pumped hydro project contract
BloombergNEF (BNEF) recently predicted India to become the world’s sixth-largest market for non-pumped hydro energy storage deployments by 2036 and forecast 1.8GW/5.4GWh of mostly electrochemical storage to come online in 2026, versus just 500MW/900MWh deployed last year.
However, India is also targeting the widespread deployment of pumped hydro energy storage (PHES) for long-duration energy storage (LDES) applications.
The country’s Central Electricity Authority (CEA) has estimated a need for around 411.4GWh of energy storage capacity in India by 2031-2032, comprising 236.2GWh of BESS capacity and 175.2GWh of pumped hydro.
Toward the beginning of this year, the CEA published a roadmap for the deployment of 100GW of PHES, or pumped storage projects (PSP) in CEA parlance, by 2035-2036.
Earlier this month (4 May), General Electric spinoff company GE Vernova said it had been selected to provide nine 150MW pumped storage units for Upper Sileru hydropower plant.
The 1.35GW PHES is being built in Andhra Pradesh, southeast India, by GE Vernova’s customer, Megha Engineering & Infrastructures Limited (MEIL). It marks the two companies’ second pumped hydro project together in India.
Expected completion date is 2030 and GE Vernova’s scope of work includes design, engineering, manufacturing, testing, supply, transportation and supervision of erection, testing and commissioning of the nine reversible pump turbine units alongside their control and governing systems.
GE Vernova also integrates and manufactures BESS equipment, launching its 5MWh containerised system at RE+ 2024 in the US in September of that year.
Energy Storage Summit India 2026 takes place 22-24 October this year, hosted by Energy-Storage.news publisher Solar Media (part of the Informa Group) at the India Expo Mart, Greater Noida. See the official event website for more information.
